Alternative protein sources in Western diets: Food product development and consumer acceptance of spirulina-filled pasta

Spirulina (Arthrospira platensis) is currently being increasingly researched for its usability and suitability in human nutrition. The inclusion of alternative protein sources, such as spirulina, in familiar products is a possible strategy to nudge consumers towards dietary change in Western societies. Filled pasta variants with three levels of spirulina-soy-extrudate in the filling (10%, 30% or 50%) were developed and investigated for their sensory characteristics and consumer liking. Recipe development was based on the concepts of flavor-flavor learning (beet-ginger or tomato) and masking (lemon-basil) to account for the musty and earthy notes of the alga. Consumer tests were conducted in Germany (n = 139), the Netherlands (n = 137) and France (n = 144), and conventional sensory profiling was accomplished with trained panelists (n = 12). Consumers preferred the lemon-basil flavor over tomato and beet-ginger flavored fillings. As expected, liking decreased with increased extrudate content, regardless of the flavor. For all flavors expected liking was higher than liking after product exposure; for the lemon-basil flavor the gap was the smallest. It was shown that low general food neophobia and familiarity with spirulina promoted consumer liking. The sensory profiling revealed that the spirulina-soy-extrudate content affected all sensory attributes identified across all flavors, but for the tomato flavor the most. Overall, this study confirms that it is important to consider differences in consumer motivation as well as the product’s conceptual and intrinsic sensory characteristics in new product development.     

PROP sensitivity reflects sensory discrimination between custard desserts

Sensitivity to 6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP) for a group of 180 naïve consumers was related to their perception of 16 commercially available vanilla custard desserts. Rated intensities of taste and texture attributes varied moderately and inconsistently with PROP sensitivity. In contrast, discriminative ability increased with PROP sensitivity resulting in higher numbers of significant differences between pairs of custards. In terms of signal/noise theory, the results indicate that PROP sensitivity enhances the separation of the response signals but does not reduce their noise. The naïve consumers were also compared with highly trained panelists to test whether effects of PROP sensitivity resemble the effects of experience and training. Naïve consumers and trained panelists responded similarly with respect to taste and texture sensations such as creaminess and thickness, but were clearly different with respect to others such as heterogeneity and fattiness. Trained panelists demonstrated even stronger discriminative abilities than consumers with high PROP sensitivities for some attributes but weaker abilities for others. A practical implication of these findings is that selection criteria for participation in sensory panels should include PROP sensitivity, if the panel is aimed at maximum discriminative performance.     

Influence of nanoencapsulation on the sensory properties of cosmetic formulations containing lipoic acid

Sensory analysis has become a valuable tool in qualifying consumer perception regarding cosmetic products. This study aims to explore the application of discriminative and affective consumers sensory analysis in evaluating the influence of nanoencapsulation on the sensory properties and rheological characteristics of a cosmetic formulation containing lipoic acid. The nanocapsules were prepared by the pre‐formed polymer precipitation method. Semisolid formulations were prepared using a silicone emulsion system, and these pseudoplastic fluids were characterized using rheological methods. The panellists (n = 88) analysed the formulations with and without nanoencapsulated lipoic acid as paired comparisons within the discriminative and affective sensory analysis. In these measurements, spreadability, stickiness, oiliness and sulphur odour were evaluated. The panellists had no previous training in conducting these measurements. It was shown that nanotechnology can change some sensory characteristics of the formulations. The spreadability, stickiness and oiliness are the attributes for which the panellists noted differences with statistical significance. The spreadability difference could be due to the results found in the rheological profiles and consistency indexes between formulations. In the discriminative analysis, the panellists could not detect any noticeable differences in the sulphur odour or residual properties between samples, attributes that would influence whether consumers adhered to the selected treatment. Considering affective analysis, the consumers communicated that the formulation containing the nanoencapsulated lipoic acid, which presented less consistency, was preferred based on the reduction in immediate stickiness and residual sulphur odour. The free lipoic acid formulation was preferred in terms of residual oiliness and spreadability.     

Comparison of partial and global projective mapping with consumers: A case study with satiating cheese pies

In the present work the performance of global projective mapping and partial projective mapping based on texture and flavor for sensory characterization of a novel food category (satiating food product) was compared. Eight different fresh-cheese pie formulations were designed to obtain different sensory (principally texture) characteristics which could affect expected satiating perception. Three groups of consumers evaluated the samples using one of the following methodologies: global projective mapping (G-PM) (n = 47), partial projective mapping based on flavor (F-PM) (n = 53), and partial projective mapping based on texture (T-PM) (n = 61). In addition, the expected satiating capacity of each cheese pie sample was scored on a nine-point scale. Results showed that the vocabulary used by consumers for describing the sensory characteristics of samples did not largely differ between global and partial projective mapping tasks. However, T-PM and F-PM tasks provided more detailed information than G-PM in each specific modality. Results suggested that when consumers performed the global projective mapping task they mainly took into account flavor characteristics for evaluating global similarities and differences among samples. In addition, hedonic attributes were more frequently mentioned in G-PM. Fresh cheese, sugar, corn starch and egg were the basic ingredients that conferred the fresh-cheese pies their typical, characteristic flavor and texture. The addition of whey or soy proteins, wheat bran or glucomannan increased expected satiating capacity which could be related to changes in texture (harder, more compact) leading to longer orosensory exposure. The addition of glucomannan caused the largest changes in the sensory characteristics of the cheese pies which in turn would be related to a decrease in perceived flavor intensity. Studying the interplay between formulations, sensory characteristics, expected satiating capacity and consumer liking could largely contribute to the development of this novel food category.     

Heart rate,electrodermal responses and frontal alpha asymmetry to accepted and non-accepted solutions and drinks

Consumers’ physiological responses, such as heart rate, electrodermal responses and frontal alpha activity can enhance the understanding of the consumers’ food experience. This study looked at physiological responses of the autonomic nervous system (heart rate, electrodermal responses) as a measure for level of arousal, and to responses of the central nervous system (frontal alpha asymmetry, FAA) as a measure for approach/withdrawal motivational tendency, to accepted (liked) and non-accepted (disliked) solutions and drinks.Participants (n = 32, age range: 18–34 years) were presented with a universally accepted (sucrose) and non-accepted (caffeine) solution, a personally selected accepted and non-accepted drink, and plain water. Heart rate, heart rate variability, electrodermal activity and electro-encephalography for FAA at F7 and F8 (10/20 system, 25 channels, 256 Hz) were registered during tasting. Statistical analysis consisted of linear mixed model analyses.We found a significantly higher heart rate during tasting of the personally selected non-accepted drink and a significantly lower latency of the electrodermal response during tasting of the universally non-accepted solution and personally selected non-accepted drink. No significant results were observed for FAA.This is one of the first studies that examined physiological responses including frontal alpha asymmetry during actual tasting. This study provides an exploratory method to obtain implicit measurement of acceptance and food product-elicited emotion through physiological responses and supports the importance of the inclusion of implicit measures, next to explicit measures, in sensory evaluation of food products.     

Flavour sensory qualities and consumer perceptions – a comparison of sensory and brain activity responses to flavour components in different populations

This paper explores the relationship between odour responses of naïve consumers to different flavour components, by investigating the ability of sensory ratings and brain recording techniques to reveal differences in responses associated with differences in background and experience. Two groups of naïve consumers (Australian and Overseas students from Asian/South‐east Asian background; all untrained in sensory work) participated in sensory ratings and brain electrical activity [electroencephalogram (EEG)] recordings of responses to the odours of four flavour components. Results indicated no significant differences in rating responses between cultural groups, but did reveal significant brain electrical activity differences between cultural groups in response to para‐cresol, and a similar (nonsignificant) trend in responses to 2‐heptanone and dimethyltrisulphide. These results suggest that the application of EEG techniques to sensory analysis has the potential to provide physiological evidence of cultural differences in odour responsiveness that cannot always be discriminated by subjective reports.     

Consumer preference for nutrition and health claims: A multi-methodological approach

To understand consumers’ acceptance and preference in relation to Nutrition and Health Claims (NHCs) on food products and the reasons for their (non)acceptance in an Eastern European country with a weak tradition in NHC, and an enormous increase in the number of foods with NHCs in recent years, this study aimed to fill a research gap by applying a multi-methodological approach combining a survey and conjoint analysis (n = 204) and a focus group (n = 45). The survey demonstrated that Slovenian consumers in general are moderately doubtful of NHCs. Conjoint analysis showed that when Slovenians choose their breakfast cereals, NHCs are more important than whether visual images are present. Visual images convince only the youngest consumers. The study revealed the importance of social perception and trust in the social system for accepting foods with NHCs/images. Consumers who did not trust the political and economic system also did not accept foods with NHCs/images.     

The effect of health prompts on product consideration,attention to information,and choice in large,online product assortments: The case of fiber

Health-focused point-of-decision prompts (PDPs) influence consumers to purchase healthier food products, but how PDPs work has not been established. We examined how a PDP focused on fiber consumption, an under-consumed nutrient, influences consumers to select healthier products. US-based participants (n = 753), randomly assigned to a PDP or control condition, completed a simulated online shopping experience that included features of real-world retail settings, such as the ability to examine subsets of products and to choose to access nutrition information. In each condition, participants made choices in cereal, bread, and cracker categories. Participants could choose to view all or subsets of products before making a selection and reported the nutrient information they examined. We used mediation analysis to examine direct and indirect pathways through which the PDP affected the fiber content and healthiness rating of choices. Indirect pathways were whether the set of products the participant considered included healthy options (HCS) and attention to fiber information (AFI) when making choices. The PDP increased fiber content and Guiding Stars (GS) ratings of product choices by a total of 0.53 g dietary fiber/serving and 0.25 GS, respectively. This increase resulted from direct and indirect influences from the PDP. The direct effect increased fiber (GS) by 0.19 g dietary fiber/serving (0.072 GS). The indirect influence of the PDP through HCS increased 0.21 g dietary fiber/serving (0.104 GS) and through AFI increased 0.13 g dietary fiber/serving (0.035 GS). The PDP engendered healthier purchases by influencing consumer behavior at multiple points in the decision-making process.     

Establishing tenderness thresholds of Venezuelan beef steaks using consumer and trained sensory panels

The tenderness thresholds for ribeye steaks at 2 d postmortem were found by using sensory trained (n = 734 steaks) and consumers panel data (55 ribeye steaks and 296 consumers). Also, consumers’ perceptions of sensory attributes of beef steaks were assessed to establish their relationships and to determine acceptability levels. The tenderness threshold obtained by regression analysis from trained panelists was 37.98 N (3.87 kg). Customer satisfaction of 81% was obtained when beef steaks had Warner-Bratzler shear force values (WBSF) less than 40.13 N (4.09 kg), suggesting that 40.13 N could be considered as a tenderness threshold to segregate tough from tender steaks, for Venezuelan beef consumers. According to correlation and regression analyses, consumers focused on flavor to assign their overall liking score. Results suggest that consumers are able to detect changes in tenderness of steaks with different WBSF and that flavor drives customer satisfaction when the beef tenderness is acceptable.     

Genetics,odor perception and food liking: The intriguing role of cinnamon

Humans use a repertoire of > 400 olfactory receptors (ORs) to perceive odorants. The sense of smell is a complex trait whereby genetics and environmental factors interplay. To date, still little is known regarding the genetics of smell, even though the high genetic variability of ORs genes has already been demonstrated. Recently a significant association between cinnamon odorant recognition and the rs317787 polymorphism, located in a cluster of OR genes, has been described. Based on this data, here, we replicated the effect of the same variant (rs317787) on cinnamon odorant identification as well as looked at any possible association with liking for wine whose bouquet frequently smells of cinnamon. Our analysis in a cohort of individuals from two Italian genetic isolates confirmed that rs317787-T allele is associated with an improved cinnamon detection (p-value 5.18 × 10⁻⁰⁶, n = 971) but also with a greater liking for red wine (p-value 0.017, n = 2374). Present results further confirm the association of rs31778 SNP and cinnamon odorants detection and provide additional details about the role of the ORs genes in food liking. Overall, our work contributes to better deciphering the genetic basis of smell and food liking aimed at a more in-depth elucidation of the role of the ORs genes.